I had a neat experience last Friday going to the Googleplex in Mountain View. A few weeks ago, I got an e-mail from a past co-worker who is now at Google. He told me that his son Kevan was a fan of LANDMOOR and wanted a copy of SILVERKIN signed. So while I was in the Bay Area on business, I got to tour the Google campus, sign a book, and talk shop with someone I used to work with. When I arrived, I was given a very flattering letter:
Dear Mr Wheeler, Thank you for writing Landmoor and Silverkin! I really enjoyed the books. I hope you writeanother one! I bet it will be eally awesome too. Sincerely, Kevan P.S. I would also like to know what happens to Exeres next.
Coming from a 10 year-old boy, it made me feel like a million bucks. I don’t have plans to write more in the Landmoor universe any time soon, though I did pass along that I have enough content for that world to fill about 10 books. Right now, I’m deep into Wretched of Muirwood (just finished chapter 21 this weekend). One of the fun parts of being a writer is coming up with new names. In the story right now, Lia must travel through a marshland to get to her destination. What to name it? I flipped and flopped a while, but the environment around me is a constant source of inspiration. As I was driving home from work one day, I passed a secluded house and there was a rugged mailbox out front with the name ‘Bearden’ on it. It just clicked in the my mind – the swamp is called the ‘Bearden Muir’. I still like the sound of it.
